Most care homes already lack well-trained staff, but the current demand for specialist care workers is set to rise. This is likely to remain an enduring situation due to demographic developments: Society is aging and the number of people requiring care is steadily rising. Training and retraining care workers is a key issue. It will no longer be possible to meet training needs through formal classroom education, so there’s an urgent need for new teaching methods. In collaboration with the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), the Steinbeis Consulting Center for Audiovisual Media, VIDEODOC, has developed a training vehicle that seems to fit the bill.
A new cooperative degree program is due to get underway in the coming winter, managed by Professor Anke Simon. The training will prepare workers for a career in the care industry. The aim of the program is to address growing demand for skilled and creative care workers. The new method designed by the Steinbeis experts is based on the concept of classroom training in combination with web-based training.
Professionally produced videos will be central to sharing knowledge-based content successfully. The core of the curriculum is based on a mixture of teaching materials consisting of instructional videos and carefully edited educational texts, allowing students to flexibly work through the course from remote locations whenever they chose. The program is broken down into several modules. Theoretical content is dealt with in depth, and students are carefully prepared for formal tests. The teaching platform has been integrated into an open source moodle solution used at the DHBW. The system allows students to obtain precise feedback on their progress at any time.
The DHBW carried out most of the legwork with the Steinbeis Consulting Center in Fahlenbach within weeks, resulting in a successful funding application for a joint project. The German government launched a training initiative in 2008 aimed at promoting “Advancement through Training” to improve the long-term education opportunities open to all citizens. The DHBW’s Project OPEN (Open Education in Nursing) is being sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research over the course of three years. It forms part of a program backed by European social funding called “Advancement through Education: Open Universities.”
The ambitious project has the following key goals:
“On top of this, we’re entering new territory in the realm of training for people in care professions, and by bringing together professions, degrees and the family, we’re making an important contribution to society,” explains Anke Simon. Web-based training plays a central role in the success of the vocational training program. People with vocational training but no formal university education can now also start receiving academic training.
The Steinbeis Consulting Center for Audiovisual Media, VIDEODOC, specializes in Web-based education with a leaning toward medicine and science. A highly qualified team consisting of media specialists, TV journalists, scientists and medical experts provide support to the heads of the project, Margot Mayer and Jürgen Skuda. The center specializes in the implementation of training projects.
Margot Mayer
Jürgen Skuda
Steinbeis Consulting Center Audiovisual Media VIDEODOC (Fahlenbach)